Where Disc Meets Globe: An International Exhibition of Ultimate Frisbee

Hosting an international ultimate Frisbee game in a small city like Madison, Wis., was an unexpected event embraced by the Madison Radicals, a pro team that started in 2013 as part of the American Ultimate Disc League. The Buzz Bullets, a world-class ultimate Frisbee team from Japan, competed against the Radicals, who had recently placed second in this year’s A.U.D.L. championship.

“I think it’s great for building the community and for showing the rest of the world where ultimate is going,” Tim DeByl, a Radicals co-owner, said of the Aug. 20 game at Breese Stadium.

Ultimate is played on a football field, but there are significant differences between ultimate and football. “Ultimate is more of a beautiful game and you can play it super hard and people rarely get injured,” DeByl said, because of the no-contact rules. With seven people on the field from each team at a time, points are gained when a player catches a pass in the opposing team’s end zone.

A crowd of 1,155 fans, the Radicals’ second-highest attendance of the year, came to support the first international A.U.D.L. exhibition game, won by the Radicals, 28-21, and were encouraged to bring their own food and drink. “We didn’t have all the bells and whistles, but they still came to support,” a Radicals captain, Pat Shriwise, said. “They took the time to come out on a Thursday night when people have work the next day, and that was really cool and unexpected.”

For Andrew Brown, a captain, the most memorable moment of the game came from the fans in the second half when Masahiro Matsuno of the Buzz Bullets scored after jumping over two Radicals defenders.

“Even though it’s the opponent scoring on us, they were sort of enamored with their style and cheered just as loudly for his play as they do for us,” he said. “It was cool to see our fans not only enjoying our success, the Radicals, but seeing them do well also.”

Correction:Oct. 16, 2015

A caption on Wednesday with a picture essay about an international ultimate Frisbee exhibition game between the Madison Radicals and the Buzz Bullets of Japan misidentified a member of the Radicals who scored. He is Colin Camp, not Seth Meyer.

A version of this article appears in print on , Section B, Page 11 of the New York edition with the headline: Where Disc Meets Globe: An International Exhibition. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe